Rated No. 1 by the public.

Readers voted in favor of the Masterpiece Flyback Annuaire from MauriceLacroix.

The race wasn't even close. When all votes cast by the different reader categories were counted, the Maurice Lacroix chronograph crossed the finish line clearly ahead of the 31 other contenders. As reflected in the overall rankings, it finished ahead of Piaget's Emperador, Baume & Mercier's Linea as well as TAG Heuer's Alter Ego.

When scrutinizing the results a little bit closer, it becomes clear that Maurice Lacroix scored brilliantly across all reader categories and received top marks except among women in German-speaking Switzerland where it received an honorable mention. Women in western Switzerland, however, ranked it first, a position held by the watch when adding up the votes cast by women in all regions. Among the men in western Switzerland, it finished in third place just behind the Piaget-Chopard duo while among men in German-speaking Switzerland it conceded first place to Zenith's Port Royal V. Accordingly, it finished first among men nationwide.

The model which received the public's recognition is part of the premier Masterpiece collection by Maurice Lacroix. The automatic chronograph features an ETA 2892-A2 movement decorated and finished by hand in Switzerland's Jura mountains. Its flyback or reset function has gained renewed interest in recent years but goes back to the early days of aviation. Since it enabled pilots to measure lapsed time in succession without stopping the chronograph to reset the hand, they found it very useful especially when on approach. Of course, this form of navigation has been replaced today by on-board electronics.

The name of this Maurice Lacroix Flyback Chronograph also has an extension. "Annuaire" refers to the year's calendar which tracks the months with 30 or 31 days so that no hand adjustment is needed except in February.

The Maurice Lacroix brand was founded in 1975 and is owned by Zurich's Desco von Schulthess AG, a trading company with a history of watch assembly in the Jura mountains going back to 1961. While the brand's executive offices are in Zurich, production facilities are located in Saignelégier in Switzerland's Franches Montagnes where it employs 100 and operates a new training center for 50. Sold in some 50 countries, the brand has had a disproportionately strong following in the German market for years.

The results obtained by the 32 watch models included in the survey are very informative. Piaget's Emperador - the Watch of the Year in 2000 - finishes second. This shows that the judgment of a professional jury is not much different from the preference of the public at large. Third place is shared by Baume & Mercier's Linea and TAG Heuer's Alter Ego.

Patek's Heure Universelle is in fifth place, before Rado's Xeramo and Chopard's L.U.C. Quattro. Among the top ten are also Tissot's Bellflower, Omega's Carré Constellation and Corum's Bubble.

Included in the first half of the contenders are also Alfex's Reference 5438.02, Piaget's Protocole XL, Franck Müller's Long Island Retro Second, Baume & Mercier's Capeland GMT, Rodolphe's Sensual Sertie and IWC's Portugaise Automatic 2000.

Of note are some other scores not found in the overall rankings: 5th place for Portugaise among men, 4th place for Rado's Xeramo among women in German-speaking Switzerland and the same place for Corum's Bubble among women in western Switzerland.